


Light Unblemished

by MayaMarkova



Series: Dialogues of the Dead and the Undead [3]
Category: The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: F/M, Gen, Oath of Fëanor, Silmarils, Tol Galen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-03
Updated: 2020-11-03
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:08:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,757
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27375451
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MayaMarkova/pseuds/MayaMarkova
Summary: Maedhros visits Lúthien on Tol Galen to ask her to give him the Silmaril. She is sympathetic, but does not grant his wish.
Relationships: Beren Erchamion/Lúthien Tinúviel
Series: Dialogues of the Dead and the Undead [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1996072
Comments: 5
Kudos: 17





	Light Unblemished

‘Don’t get me wrong!’ Curufin grumbled. ‘I am not thinking of myself. I don’t care what Lúthien would demand about me, even if she wants my head, if she would in return give what we are asking. But this is not going to happen. She will stick to our gem, like her father before her. They are all thieves, who will not acknowledge the rights of a creator because they have never created anything of value, and we are wasting our time.’

‘We are obliged to try,’ replied Maedhros. ‘And if you have nothing nice to say, please hold your tongue. You never know who could overhear.’

‘I don’t think there are sentinels on this side of the river,’ said Celegorm. ‘But once we cross, better keep silence.’

They saw no boats, which did not surprise them. The Green-elves, among whom Lúthien and Beren dwelt upon their return, were a secretive folk which used well the natural protections of the landscape. Once the three brothers crossed the river and stepped on Tol Galen, however, Celegorm was proven right. Two warriors in green appeared out of nowhere and aimed their bows at the foreigners.

‘I am Maedhros son of Fëanor, and these are my brothers Celegorm and Curufin,’ said Maedhros. ‘We come in peace to speak to Lady Lúthien and Lord Beren, if they would accept us.’

‘The sons of Fëanor are not held in high regard here,’ one of the Green-elves said, ‘but I’ll report your presence to the Lady of Tol Galen. Come with us!’

He led them along a path between green bushes, then through a small wooden door into a dark narrow building hidden under giant old trees. Once inside, the Green-elves ordered the sons of Fëanor to leave their weapons in the corridor, then led them to a small room with a bench and told them to sit down. After that, both left through another door.

The brothers waited in silence. Then the door into which the guards had disappeared opened again, to let through Lúthien herself. The three stood up and bowed.

‘Hail Maedhros!’ she greeted. ‘You have a good reputation overall, and I have nothing against you. However, I cannot say the same about your brothers – these two particular brothers. Maybe you would find a warmer welcome if you had come alone.’

‘Lady Lúthien!’ he said. ‘I have come to ask a great favor from you. It would be difficult to grant under any circumstances, but even more now, with the legitimate grievances you have against my brothers Celegorm and Curufin. I have brought them so that they can apologize in person, and if you wish, they will remain here to stand trial for their crimes against you and your husband Beren.’

Celegorm and Curufin knelt and pronounced their apologies. Lúthien gestured to them to stand up.

‘I want just to know why you did what you did,’ she said. ‘Celegorm, how did you decide that it was a good idea to imprison me and force me to marry you? Is this the custom of the land you are coming from?’

‘No, it isn’t,’ replied Celegorm. ‘That’s why, though it is said that marriage is a vow to Eru and creates a bond to last till the end of Arda, wives leave their husbands in a heartbeat, as soon as it becomes more convenient than staying. So my grandfather’s wife left him, though she had made a grand fuss to marry him before, and the Valar themselves had convened to grant her a special permission. My mother left my father, and the wives of my brothers Maglor, Curufin and Caranthir left them. The rest of us had never married, but I had a cousin whom I liked. She also seemed to like me but I didn’t press her, and she never made up her mind. Once she came to visit me, but I was away, and she didn’t have the patience to wait a little. She roamed around until she bumped into some pig-headed Sinda, who didn’t suffer of excessive respect to her opinions and just made her his wife. Of course, she eventually fled him screaming, but before this, she gave him a son, while in our family, no more children will be born…’

‘I think I understand,’ Lúthien interrupted him. ‘You didn’t want to lose me as you had lost her, did you? And you, Curufin, why did you try to kill me?’

‘I am very sorry. I was out of my mind, because I was taking your quest personally. We the sons of Fëanor had sworn to retrieve the Silmarils created by our father, and you were crossing our Oath and trying to take a Silmaril, dooming us to the Everlasting Darkness!’

‘You shouldn’t have sworn such an oath!’

‘You are absolutely right. The problem is, we already have, and we cannot revoke it. At the time when we swore it, we wouldn’t think it possible in our wildest nightmares that any Elf outside our family would lay a claim on the Silmarils, yet your father did, and you and Beren went along with the idea, and this drove me mad…’

‘I understand,’ Lúthien said. ‘Maedhros, is this the favor you are asking? To give you the Silmaril which your father made, and Morgoth stole from him, and we stole from Morgoth?’

‘Yes, my lady! If you do this, you will have our eternal gratitude. Our people, who are maybe the best army in Beleriand, will guard your island. They will also defend your homeland of Doriath, which lies unprotected after the fall of the Girdle. If there is anything else you would wish that we can give or do, please just name it, and you will have it!’

Lúthien stood in silence for some time, her face changing under conflicting emotions, like a piece of cloth wrinkled by winds blowing from different directions. Then she ordered:

‘Celegorm, Curufin, sit and wait here! Maedhros, come with me! I want to show you something.’

She led Maedhros along dark convoluted and crossing corridors until he lost all sense of direction. Then she held a hanging frame that seemed to hold a faded picture, and moved it aside. It was actually a small window that opened a view to a secret room. Then she stepped back and gestured to Maedhros to come and peep inside.

Even before he approached, he had recognized the light, the unblemished light of the Two Trees, and knew that his father’s gem was inside. And there it was, placed in an open box lined with red velvet. But the room wasn’t just a treasury. It was occupied. A Man, or rather something looking like one, was sitting in front of the box and staring into the Silmaril. Its hair was dirty-white and scarce, as if it was very old. But its skin, instead of being wrinkled, was swollen and white with green hues here and there, like the most poisonous fungi that grew in these forests… or like the corpses that were washed ashore as the Noldor were leaving Alqualondë behind after the Kinslaying. The eyes were sunken deep and shone with a ghostly reflection of the light of the Silmaril. As Maedhros was watching, the creature outstretched its left hand to touch the gem, then retracted its fingers in apparent pain. Lúthien closed the window and opened another one which let in daylight. As Maedhros was watching her in horror, he saw that she was crying.

‘Beren?’ he asked. She nodded.

‘Námo did warn me,’ she whispered. ‘He said that Mannish death was irreversible, and he could at best create a repulsive and short-lived imitation of the dead Man… which would be a very bad idea. He asked me three times whether I really wanted this; why oh why did I say yes? We hadn’t yet married according to the complex custom of Doriath, and I was already pregnant, and didn’t want my child to be illegitimate. But this was just an excuse. After all, I could come to any of you with the Silmaril, and you would gladly welcome me and the child, wouldn’t you? But I wanted Beren. I couldn’t live without him. So Námo, from the preserved particles of Beren's old body, created… this body… and to animate it, hooked my spirit to it, making me mortal.’

‘Lúthien, I don’t think the Silmaril is good for Beren! Or for you, now that you are mortal. Back in Valinor, Lady Varda hallowed the Silmarils against mortal touch. I saw the Silmaril burn Beren’s fingers. I suppose that it will shorten the life span of both of you.’

‘Yes, the Silmaril will shorten our remaining life, which will be short enough anyway. But its light sustains Beren and keeps him conscious. He was even more corpse-like before the Silmaril returned to us. Oh, you must have heard that Beren defeated the army of Dwarves who had killed my father and stolen the Silmaril, haven’t you? The truth is that the Dwarves, seeing him, jumped in horror into the Ascar and drowned themselves! Now, our lives are centered around the Silmaril. I wear it often, though I know it is no good for me and hastens my death. It does not let me eat properly, it thins my blood, it made my hair fall off, I am wearing a wig…’ Lúthien pulled up her black hair, and it detached from her head.

‘Why do you wear it, when you feel that it is killing you?’

‘Because wearing it is the only way to make Beren look at me. And I want him to look at me with longing! I was born into this world to love him.’ Lúthien looked at Maedhros. ‘I only wish to keep the Silmaril for the rest of my and Beren’s life, which will not be long. Then, I’ll write in my will that it should be sent back to you, its rightful owners. But let us live in peace a little more… before we turn to dust!’

Maedhros nodded, fighting back his own tears. He did not doubt her sincerety, but did not hope that her plan would be realized to the end, either. He remembered Námo’s curse. The Silmaril would keep evading him and his brothers, and would eventually put them against other Elves. But nothing could be done. He followed Lúthien as she led him back to the exit. He would still have time to say farewell and leave with his brothers before their Oath was awakened.

**Author's Note:**

> Not only Tolkien but also most commenters gloss over the attitude of Lúthien and Beren to the Silmaril. It is true that it was not their idea to steal it, and they surrendered it peacefully to Thingol. However, after Thingol’s death, they stuck to it like limpets, in a way that would make Smeagol envious, and without any explanation except that Lúthien was very beautiful wearing it, though it considerably shortened her lifespan. About the latter, I postulated that the Silmaril emitted radioactivity, and I gave Lúthien symptoms of radiation sickness.  
> I am also not satisfied with Beren’s return to life. Zombie Beren, however, is more acceptable and explains why he and Lúthien after their return hid in the thickest greenery they could find.


End file.
